Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected MPs’ Representational Activities?

Koop, Royce; Blidook, Kelly; Fuga, Lesley Anne

doi:10.1017/s0008423920000566

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Related service for housing problems continued into 2017, illustrating how immediate circumstances affect representational style. This was also evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, where MPs in various countries not only shifted their representational focus toward service but also learned of new methods and technologies for connecting with constituents (e.g., Koop, Blidook, and Fuga, 2020;Piscopo and Franceschet 2022). MPs clearly adapt their representational styles to changing circumstances.…”

Section: Discussion: Representation In National and Constituency Cont...mentioning

confidence: 95%

Representational Style Across National and Constituency Contexts: Members of Parliament in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom

Blidook,

Koop

2024

Political Research Quarterly

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In this study, we ask how and why do Members of Parliament adopt different representational styles? Looking at MPs in four Westminster-style democracies, we identify differences between MPs and inductively explore influences on representational styles by first using participant observation to gain deep insights into the activities of a small sample of MPs and then by using semi-structured interviews from a larger sample to elucidate findings from the observations across states. Our primary focus is the method of connection between representative and citizen, as fostered by the representative while present in the constituency. Despite similar institutional and electoral contexts across countries, we find a significant variation that is influenced by both country-level and constituency-level factors. Findings suggest a continuum from highly service-oriented to highly symbolic-oriented styles, where MPs from the UK illustrate the former, and MPs from Canada illustrate the latter, though with further variation at the constituency level that is based, in part, upon both geography and demographics.

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Section: Discussion: Representation In National and Constituency Cont...mentioning

confidence: 95%

Representational Style Across National and Constituency Contexts: Members of Parliament in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom

Blidook,

Koop

2024

Political Research Quarterly

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“…A special authorization by the Board of Internal Economy allowed them to hire external printing services to print a householder from mid-April to June 30, 2020, including permission to include "COVID-19-related messages from local community, government or not-for-profit organizations" within the documents (Canada, House of Commons, 2020). During this time, constituency casework skyrocketed as MPs and staff assisted constituents in distress and those who needed help accessing emergency government programs (Koop et al, 2020). However, MPs were unable to attend the public gatherings and events that are content fodder for householders.…”

Section: Messaging and Constituent Newslettersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Representation and Partisanship: What Determines the Topics That Members of Parliament Prioritize in Communications with Their Constituents?

Marland,

Snagovsky

2023

Can J Pol Sci

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What determines how Members of Parliament (MPs) and their staff frame their communications with all constituents in their electoral district? Prior research has suggested that constituency operations are one of the last bastions of freedom that MPs have from the full grasp of party discipline in Canada. If this remains true, MP communications with their constituents should reflect the MPs’ background or the constituency context and not their political partisanship. We collected a sample of published newsletters (“householders”) that Canadian MPs’ offices sent to all households in their electoral districts during the COVID-19 pandemic. We supplement our analysis with original insights about householders from a selection of MPs and their staff. Our results suggest that in a system of strict party discipline, the most important predictor of what MPs include in their constituent communications is indeed partisanship. The results inform our understanding of democratic representation, centralized co-ordination and political communication, and the pervasiveness of partisan messaging in Canada.

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“…O parlamento/legislativo em regime virtual teve como um dos seus efeitos a drástica redução da participação popular, incluindo o distanciamento dos agentes políticos com seu eleitorado. Este fato foi descrito em demais pesquisas, o que denota a importância de serem pensadas estratégias de aproximação do povo às casas legislativas em tempos digitais (Koop, 2020;Malloy, 2020). Ainda que houvesse limitações concretas devido à impossibilidade de frequentar fisicamente a Alba, esforços poderiam ter sido empreendidos para reproduzir encontros digitais com a sociedade civil, a exemplo de audiências públicas ou reuniões de Comissão.…”

Section: Considerações Finaisunclassified

“…No campo político, especificamente nos parlamentos, foi necessária a conformação de um conjunto considerável de ações, obrigando as casas legislativas e seus agentes a se adaptarem à prática digital. A criação de comissões parlamentares específicas e sessões virtuais tornaram-se comuns, assim como, em paralelo, o surgimento de efeitos advindos da alteração na rotina e comportamento dos membros do parlamento (Griglio, 2020;Koop, 2020;Malloy, 2020;Moulds, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Respostas do legislativo baiano à COVID-19: um retrato panorâmico dos primeiros meses de 2020

Campos

Ramos

Silva

et al. 2021

RSD

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Objetivo: Analisar as respostas iniciais do parlamento baiano no enfrentamento à pandemia da COVID-19. Metodologia: Estudo exploratório e descritivo, realizado através de pesquisa documental, a partir do acesso a informações públicas disponíveis no sítio eletrônico da Assembleia Legislativa da Bahia. Foram investigadas 20 atas de sessões plenárias virtuais, bem como 374 proposições legislativas referentes à COVID-19. O período de análise foi de março a junho de 2020, o qual corresponde ao início do surto da COVID-19 no Brasil e antecede ao primeiro pico de casos na Bahia. Elaborou-se uma matriz de análise, a partir das variáveis: data de entrada, proposição, autor, partido/bancada, medida, tomada de posição, tramitação. Resultados: Apenas 3 categorias de proposições foram aprovadas: as declaratórias de calamidade pública; as que estabeleceram orientações/medidas/ mecanismos de gestão; e as de finalidade econômica/fiscal, sugerindo esforço no preparo da atuação da máquina pública para o combate à pandemia. Dentre as leis sancionadas, citam-se: amplo protagonismo do executivo; tempo célere de tramitação das matérias. Destacam-se políticas de proteção social, com transferência de renda; combate às fake news; reforço às recomendações da OMS. Considerações finais: O regime virtual teve como um dos seus efeitos a redução da participação popular no parlamento e o distanciamento dos agentes políticos com seu eleitorado. Recomendaram-se algumas ações, como a atualização adequada dos dados públicos, o fortalecimento das instâncias formais do parlamento e o monitoramento permanente dos legislativos estaduais.

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Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected MPs’ Representational Activities?

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has necessarily affected the operation of Canada's Parliament and, thus, the activities of Members of Parliament (MPs) (Malloy, 2020; Rayment and VandenBeukel, 2020). Here, we explore how the pandemic has affected the representational activities of individual MPs.

Cited by 9 publications

References 4 publications

Representational Style Across National and Constituency Contexts: Members of Parliament in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom

Representational Style Across National and Constituency Contexts: Members of Parliament in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom

Representation and Partisanship: What Determines the Topics That Members of Parliament Prioritize in Communications with Their Constituents?

Respostas do legislativo baiano à COVID-19: um retrato panorâmico dos primeiros meses de 2020

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